Courage and Sacrifice
by Rowin Wolfe
Summary: Xion selflessly sacrificed her life to save those she cared about. What happens when she gets a second chance? Rated T for violence and character death. Contains Rokushi. Chapter 3 has been posted.
1. Chapter 1: A Second Chance

**To those of you who have read this before: yes. This is the same story I've posted before. I'm just rewriting it. Some stuff will remain the same. To everyone else, I hope you enjoy this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. I do own the OC's though.**

**Courage and Sacrifice**

**Chapter 1: A second chance**

Xion collapsed to her knees as the last of Xemnas's devices wore off.

"Who are you, again? It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important," Roxas said as he walked over to her.

"You'll be...better off now...Roxas," Xion said, her strength beginning to fade as she fell to the ground.

Roxas ran over and caught her just before she hit the ground.

"Am I the one who did this to you?" he said worriedly.

"No," she said, getting weaker, "It was my choice...to go away now. Better that...than to do nothing...and let Xemnas have his way. I belong with Sora. And now...I am going back...to be with him.

Roxas, I need you...to do me a favor. All those hearts I captured, Kingdom Hearts, set them free."

"Kingdom Hearts?" asked a confused Roxas, "Free them?"

"It's too late...for me to undo my mistakes," Xion said as her legs crystallized and disappeared, "But you can't let Xemnas have Kingdom Hearts. You can't."

"Goodbye,...Roxas," Xion said with a sad smile on her face, "I'm glad...I got to meet you. Oh, and of course...Axel too. You're both my best friends."

"Never forget..." Xion said as she touched Roxas's face, "that's the truth."

As Xion was in her final moments, she could hear Roxas pleading with her not to go. But it was too late.

* * *

Xion awoke suddenly in a strange place not remembering anything. The first thing she noticed was that she was in something that looked like a cross between an underground palace and catacombs. The tunnels were large enough to fit a large hill in. Torches the size of elephants lined the walls.

The next thing Xion noticed was her clothing. She wore a white tunic over silver-colored chain mail armor. The tunic had a red hurricane symbol superimposed by a red phoenix in the center of it. A brown leather belt was fastened over the tunic and around her waist. A steel gauntlet covered her hand, wrist, and forearm. She also wore steel boots that stopped just below her knees.

Xion removed the hood of her chain mail and started exploring.

She saw that carved out of the wall there were eight cavities each with a ten foot tall statue standing guard over the great hall in each of them. As Xion walked down the tunnel she noticed that each one of the statues had the same clothing carved out of sone for it as Xion wore. The hands of each one were resting on top of a large sword. At the end of the hall there was a dead end. The smooth stone wall that formed the dead end had a strange symbol that looked like a human handprint with talons of a large bird sticking out between each finger.

Xion placed her hand on the wall and lined up her hand with the human portion of the symbol. Fiery talons seemed to grow between each one of her fingers and line up with the talon portion of the symbol. The symbol itself caught fire before the wall split perfectly down the middle and the two halves slid into the wall on either side. Xion stared at her hand as the fire disappeared, surprised by the talons, the wall, the symbol, the fire and the lack of pain from the fire. As she proceeded further down the hall, the doors closed behind her, leaving her in complete darkness.

Suddenly, fire lit up in a hollow space carved out of a ledge running down each wall. Xion followed the fire to a large room with eight large, stone thrones.A longsword floated juster inches off the seat of each one. On the back of each throne was perched a large fiery bird.

"Phoenixes," Xion recalled.

Xion suddenly fell to her knees, grabbed her head with one hand, and groaned in pain as memories started flooding back to her. Roxas, the organization, her birth, heartless, the key blade, even her death.

"Whe-where am I?" Xion stammered as the pain subsided.

"You are in the realm of second chances," the largest phoenix, the one in the center, said, "The realm where guardians of innocent lives are awakened."

"But I never really guarded innocent lives." Xion said as she stood up.

"You sacrificed yourself to save not only those you cared about but someone you didn't even know so he could set things right; knowing full well that no one would remember you. Knowing that it would mean giving up your existence. Your courage and your sacrifice has not only proven you worthy of a second chance, but has also proven that you have a heart like a phoenix."

As an eighth throne rose out of the ground, Xion looked down at her hand and saw a longsword of her own begin floating above her outstretched palm.

"The energy that makes these swords float is the life-force of yourself and our descendants. It is what empowers you. Guides you. So as long as you hold on to what motivates you, it will protect you from the darkness."

"How can this be?" Xion asked as she gripped the sword.

"You said yourself that I gave up my existence," Xion said the the largest phoenix ,"How is it that I am here?"

"Some of the memories that you were compromised of did not belong to Sora. They are memories that you formed during your time with the Nobody known as Roxas. Because of this, we were able to purge those memories from Sora to restore you. We were also able to purge Sora's memories from Roxas and return them to their rightful place."

"So, why am I here?" Xion asked.

"Sora cannot save the worlds on his own. The forces of darkness are too great," the largest phoenix said, "You will be fighting alongside our descendants to aid him."

"How?" Xion asked.

"All in due time," the phoenix said as he touched a claw to her forehead.

Xion disappeared in a flash of light. The sword disappeared and reappeared floating above the ninth throne.

**Hope you enjoyed it. Read the next chapter to find out what happened to Xion.**


	2. Chapter 2: Awakening

**I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Reviews are always welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. I do own the OC's though.**

**Courage and Sacrifice**

**Chapter 2: Awakening**

A man stood in front of a large, liquid-filled tube with a computer hooked up to it. In it a petite, raven-haired girl was floating unconscious. She had various tubes and wires sticking out of her for life support and monitoring. A heart monitor could be heard beeping in the plain white room.

The sound of an automatic door opening and closing tore the man away from his thoughts. He looked to see who entered the room and smiled when he saw a beautiful woman walking up to him.

"Good morning, Blizzard," he said cheerfully.

Blizzard was a light-skinned girl with brown hair and eyes. Her straight hair was neatly cut at the base of her neck She had a body that was somewhere between petite and athletic. She was about 5'6". She was second-in-command of a highly elite spec ops team known as Storm Squadron. Just like every other member of the team, she was half-phoenix, half-human and had a special ability as a result. She had the ability to form and control ice. She was wearing a blue, flannel unbuttoned blouse with a grey tank top underneath. She also wore denim shorts that stopped just above her knee.

"Good morning, Rowin," she replied with the same cheerfulness in her voice as they wrapped an arm around each other's waists.

Rowin Wolfe was the commander of Storm Squadron. He was slightly tanner than Blizzard with short brown hair and eyes. He had an athletic build and was about 5'9" tall. His special ability was telekinesis. He wore a black polo shirt and dark blue jeans.

"How is she?" Blizzard asked looking at the tube.

"Her body is finished developing. We just need to wait for the Ancestors to send her heart to this world to fill it," Rowin replied also returning his attention to the girl in the tube.

"You two confuse me," someone said jokingly as they entered the room.

"Shut up, Aquas," Rowin replied with a chuckle.

Aquas, the corpsman of the team, was slightly pale with a red beard. His red hair was kept short and straight. His eyes were greenish brown. He had a muscular build and was about 6'1". His ability was the ability to form and control water. He wore scrubs and a lab coat.

"Do you think this is going to work?" Rowin said tilting his head in the direction of the tube.

"Honestly, I doubt it. Best case scenario, her heart gets lost in some random world. Worst case, the merging of the heart and body will be more than either can handle and we'll lose her for good," Aquas replied more solemnly.

"I hope your wrong," said Rowin as he looked back at the tube.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the night, Xion awoke to discover she was suspended in liquid with tubes and wires sticking out of her. She could instantly could tell that something was not quite right with her body. She felt a tingling sensation go down her arms and legs. Then she began to shake violently and uncontrollably, causing the monitors to set off a three bell alarm. She felt her heart beating irregularly along with pain in her chest. Finally, her body went still, her eyes closed, and her mind went blank. The heart monitor flatlined causing another alarm to go off. Rowin bolted through the doors wearing a black digital camo uniform, black steel-toed boots, and a black digital camp eight-point cover. A M9 pistol was strapped to his thigh and an ammo belt was buckled around his waist. A sliver oak leaf was sewn on each one of his collars. A silver hurricane symbol superimposed by a silver phoenix was centered on the front of his cover.

Rowin ran over to the tube and took a quick glance at the vital monitors before pressing a red button next to the computer. Every tube and wire not needed for emergency life support shot out of Xion's body. The bottom of the tube slid away and Xion's body lowered onto a plexiglass shelf in the tube. the doors to the machine opened and the shelf slid out.

"Aquas, Rowin, report to the awakening chamber ASAP and bring an AED," Rowin said over the radio attached to his shoulder before laying Xion's body out straight and beginning chest compressions.

"Report to the medical chamber ASAP and bring an AED, Aquas, aye," Aquas's voice replied over the radio.

"Come on, Xion. Stay with me," Rowin said as he continued chest compressions.

Only moments later, Aquas bolted through the doors with the AED.

"Dry off her chest," he ordered.

Rowin did so as Aquas opened up the AED and charged it up.

"Stand clear," Aquas said.

Aquas placed the pads on Xion's chest and discharged the AED. The heart monitor beeped for a second and flatlined again. Aquas removed the pads and charged up the AED as Rowin continued doing chest compressions.

"Stand clear," Aquas said as Rowin pulled out and Aquas tried a second time.

Again, no result.

"We're losing her," Rowin said with a sense of urgency in his voice as the computer showed slowing brain activity. Aquas charged up the AED and Rowin continued doing chest compressions.

"Stand clear," Aquas said before discharging the AED again.

The heart monitor finally showed a normal heartbeat.

Aquas began prepping to move her into a hospital room while Rowin grabbed a hospital gown and put it on her.

They then lifted Xion on a mobile hospital bed and moved her into a plain tan hospital room.

* * *

**Finally got this chapter posted. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3: Recovery

**Chapter three is here. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. I do own the OC's though.**

**Courage and Sacrifice**

**Chapter 3: Recovery**

In the World that Never Was, the remaining seven members of Organization XII were meeting in the Room where Nothing Gathers. Xemnas seemed to be troubled.

"Are you sure of this?" Xemnas asked.

"Yes, Superior," Saïx responded, "the pages of the scribe's book concerning the puppet and the key formed a fiery entity and disappeared. This could only mean the puppet is reborn and the target no longer needs those memories or the key."

"Do we have any information on where the puppet has been reborn?" Xemnas asked.

"No, my lord. But we can mobilize the informants in a moments notice," Xaldin replied.

"And then what? With the memories returned to the target, how are we going to find out where he is?" Xigbar asked.

"There may be some residual memory left on the key. Soon, the Heartless will catch up to him. When they do, he will have to fight, and then we can track him. Are the replacements ready?" Xemnas asked one of five cloaked figures standing on the floor below.

"Yes, my lord," a familiar male's voice replied from among them.

"Good," Xemnas said before looking at another of the figures, the shortest one there, "Go to post A-17, and await orders. You will be in charge of the interrogation once we retrieve the key."

"Yes, my lord," a familiar female's voice replied before disappearing through a dark corridor.

IIIIIIIII

Xion awoke a few days later feeling weak. She noticed that she was in a plain white hospital room with an IV hooked into her arm. She could hear the steady beat of a heart monitor in the room. Sunlight streamed through the window to the left rather peacefully. Judging by the color and amount of light pouring through, Xion guessed it was sunrise.

_How long has it been since I've truly been able to enjoy sunlight? _Xion thought. _Roxas…._

Xion looked to her right and noticed a stuffed animal holding flowers and a card. The card hard eight notes on it each from a different person offering words of encouragement. Xion started getting out of bed and tried to stand up only to find that her legs were weak before collapsing,

"You ok?" a kind feminine voice said.

Xion propped herself up with her arms and looked up at the owner of the voice. The owner, Sparky, wore the same uniform Rowin wore the other night. A gold oak leaf was on each collar instead of a silver one. She was a 5'5" with black hair and dark skin. Her eyes were brown and she had an athletic build. Her ability was the ability to manipulate electrons and protons thus allowing her to create and control electricity. She was fifth in rank on Storm Squadron and the team's electrician, hacker, and computer genius. Her beauty was matched only by her fighting skills. She appeared to be about nineteen.

"Yeah, just fell is all," Xion said sheepishly.

"Here. Let me help you," Sparky said as she helped Xion back into her bed.

"What happened to me?" asked Xion.

"You almost died when we tried bringing you back," Sparky said, "Your body probably just isn't used to using it's muscles yet."

"How long is that going to last?" Xion asked.

"Probably a few weeks," Sparky said.

"Attention on deck!" a voice came from down the hallway.

"Carry on everyone," Rowin's voice replied.

"Good morning Rowin," Sparky said.

"How are you doing, Xion?" Rowin asked.

"I'm doing ok. What is this place and what's going to happen to me?" Xion asked.

"You are currently in the headquarters for Cumular's highly elite special forces team: Storm Squadron. Our hope is that you join us. When you are healthy enough to be fit for full duty, we can tell you more about this nation and begin your training," Rowin said.

"I have to find Roxas. He's the reason I sacrificed myself," Xion replied.

"We can help you find him. But we need you to help us if you want to help him. Xemnas and Organization XIII are on the rise again. And this time, they have help, they've recently acquired a small military force to follow their every order. Our ancestors provided something to give you an edge to help us defeat them,"

Ok. I'll join you," Xion said after thinking for a moment.

**Hope you enjoyed it. Please don't be afraid to review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Training Part 1

**Chapter four is here. Don't be afraid to let me know what you think.**

**Easy2Hurt: Yes. This story will be like the first version except more detail this time.**

**DuelRoxas16: Thank you. We'll see about what happens.**

**benevolent-parasite: Thank you.**

**Hiimchan: Yes, LONG LIVE ROKUSHI!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. I do own the OC's though.**

**Courage and Sacrifice**

**Chapter 4: Training Part 1**

A figure in an Organization XIII cloak was perched on a gargoyle in the World that Never Was. He stared at the streets below as he got lost in his own thoughts.

_It's too late…for me to undo my mistakes. But you can't let Xemnas have Kingdom Hearts. You can't._

"I won't Xion, I promise you," he said.

A tranquilizer dart striking the gargoyle right next to his hand broke his train of thought. On the building a few feet away from him, soldiers were running towards him as if to capture him. The figure in the cloak simply dove towards the ground and grabbed a hold of a street lamp and swung to change his momentum into a forward run. Tranq rounds flew past him as he summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion to spin and deflect the tranq darts back at the attackers as he moved forward. Airships hovered by above Dusks dropped out of them to seize the Keyblade wielder. Oathkeeper and Oblivion become a whirlwind of spinning blades as the figure kept running forward, slicing everything in his path. He lept at the cockpit of one of the airships, using it as a stepping stone as he sliced it with his Keyblade before he landed on the rooftop of a building and kept running. He kept deflecting, flipping, spinning, firing magic, anything to avoid being hit by a tranq dart as he kept fleeing through the world.

Another figure in an Organization XIII cloak lept from the higher roof top of an adjacent building did a flip in the air as throwing knives appeared in their fists.

"Ahh!" he grunted in pain as the knives pinned his shoulders to the ground.

The attacker pulled the knives out of the Keyblade wielder's back and rolled him over with a kick.

"Hello Roxas," she said.

"You! You're supposed to be dead! Saïx informed everyone!" Roxas replied.

"There's a lot you don't know," she said before kicking Roxas in the head, knocking him out.

* * *

"Let's go! Hurry Up!" Xion's trainer shouted at her.

Xion was running through a training course that was designed to get her physically and mentally fit for combat in a matter of weeks. It consisted of maneuvers that required extreme athletic ability, high-stress life or death situations, and the ability to perform at your best through all the confusion, chaos, and fatigue. In addition to that, Xion also had to keep up with a rigorous physical training, PT, program, ran on little sleep, and had to learn how to either eat and hygiene quickly, put up with doing so very little, and sometimes not at all. She was also required to take care of all required tasks with as little time as she was given. At first the program was difficult for her but now, in the last week of the program, she was able to operate efficiently and effectively in the extremely realistic combat simulator.

"Why are you going so freakin' slow?!" Xion's trainer shouted again.

Xion was getting ready to go through another round in the simulator. Evidently, her trainer wanted her to be able to get ready from underclothes to full gear in under a minute. When she first started, she knew she was going to have a tough several weeks getting prepared for the war to come. But she still had to remind herself everyday of why she was doing it.

_Roxas, _she thought as she finished putting on Kevlar body armor and topping off her M4 assault rifle and M9 pistol.

The next few minutes consisted of Xion moving through an ever changing battlefield, putting to use every skill she had learned and her training. The result: a near perfect run through the course.

"Good job, dirt bag. You graduated basic. Go put the combat gear back and report to SO Command," Xion's instructor said.

Xion came to the position of attention before responding "Aye, aye, Chief."

After placing the gear back and returning the firearms to the armory, Xion walked over to the adjacent building, stopped at the front desk and came to the position of attention.

"Cadet Xion reporting as ordered Petty Officer," Xion sounded off.

"Wait one," the man behind the desk said.

His uniform was the same as Storm Squadron's only in blue with the exception of the boots. He began scanning a clipboard for a name but found none. He then picked up a phone and placed a call.

"This is the OOD, was there supposed tot be a Cadet Xion reporting?" the man asked.

"Got it," he said again, "Aye, aye, Chief."

"At ease," he said after hanging up the phone. Xion relaxed and placed one hand over the other in front of her.

"Someone will be down in a moment for you," he said.

_**A few minutes later**_

"Good morning ma'am," Xion and the Petty Officer said as they came to attention.

"Good morning everyone. You guys can relax," the officer said.

This officer wore the same uniform the other members of Storm Squadron wore. On each side of her collar were dual silver bars.

"You can follow me, Xion. I imagine you want to get some sleep after being up all night training last night," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," Xion replied.

"Ok first, you can drop the rank. You're a part of Storm Squadron now which means you're family. Just call me Arina," Arina said.

Arina was eighth in rank on Storm Squadron. She was about 5'4" and had an athletic build. Her dark brown hair which she kept in a pony tail complemented her tan skin as did her brown eyes. She was the team's communications expert and had the ability to manipulate air.

"Are you excited to join us?" Arina asked.

"Yes ma-, er, Arina. Mainly I want to get out there so I can find Roxas," Xion replied.

"That'll come in time. You have to finish your training first though. Here we are," Arina said as they stopped in front of a room,"People will be by later with the rest of your gear later. Be sure to be standing in front of this door by 0400 in your PT gear. Here's your room key. Feel free to take the rest of today off."

Xion opened her room and saw what looked like a luxurious hotel room. A spa-like bath room was the first thing on the left when she walked in. The next thing on the left was a queen sized bed which sat right across from a large, flat-screen TV. Right next to the TV was the entrance to a well-stocked, well-equipped kitchen. Sliding glass doors led out to a balcony with a stunning view of the surrounding area. Enjoying the room, Xion decided to shower and go to sleep before she had to get up in the morning.

**I hope you enjoyed it. I apologize for the lateness of the chapter, but I am working on multiple stories at once. Until then, go forth and enjoy life my minions.**


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